Can new guidelines at Knott’s, Six Flags actually assist maintain visitors protected? – Orange County Register

Do bag checks actually assist maintain theme park guests protected or are they only one other instance of safety theater?

Many theme parks throughout the nation are tightening their guidelines on the baggage that guests can carry into their parks. Knott’s Berry Farm now limits Scary Farm guests to a bag no bigger than 6.5 inches by 4.5 inches by 2 inches, which is in regards to the dimension of a clutch purse. That coverage now extends to a few of Knott’s sibling Cedar Truthful parks throughout the nation.

Six Flags is extra beneficiant with its new bag coverage, which limits luggage to no bigger than 12 inches by 12 inches by 6 inches throughout its Fright Fest occasion. Since Fright Fest is just not a separately-ticketed occasion, Six Flags is also permitting bigger diaper luggage for guests who include younger youngsters through the day.

The brand new insurance policies adopted a string of latest safety incidents, together with last summer’s mass panic at Knott’s, one other final month at Carowinds, outdoors Charlotte, N.C., in addition to shootings in or close to Chicago’s Six Flags Nice America and Pittsburgh’s Kennywood. Knott’s and another parks even have applied mandatory chaperone policies along with the brand new bag restrictions.

However the objects that sparked final summer season’s safety incidents — cell telephones, handguns and, maybe, alcohol — can match into even the smaller luggage nonetheless allowed within the parks. Or right into a pocket, if a visitor needs to skip carrying a bag fully. Park personnel should search the baggage and the folks getting into their parks to greatest shield their visitors’ and workers’ security.

That’s the place a small bag coverage will help, since small luggage presumably may be simpler and faster to verify than bigger ones. Smaller luggage additionally imply extra space for folks within the crowded queues and scare zones. Personally, I a lot want visiting parks and not using a bag, however I acknowledge that I come to that desire from a place of nice privilege. I’m a person who doesn’t want to hold menstrual merchandise or drugs. My youngsters are lengthy grown, so I not have to haul in diapers, wipes, bottles, pacifiers and a change of garments when visiting with them.